Racing today has become about closeness. Photo finishes, improved safety and lowered operating costs have made many sanctioning bodies look to spec racing, where all the cars are the same and the contest then becomes a driver vs. driver battle.

The major casualty in these forms of racing (ie: IndyCar, NASCAR, etc.) has been truth in engineering and innovation. There is not much you can do to innovate without breaking the rules – and being hung out to dry for it.

When the American LeMans Series (ALMS) came to the Monterey Coast at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, this theory was thrown to the dogs as multiple chassis, motor, and tire combinations had no hindrance on the level of competition. The four hour enduro proved to be an absolute slugfest. It looked far more like a 20 mile sprint as it proved one of the most closely contested, nail biting, bump-and-rub fests of sports cars and prototypes lapping the twisty, hilly 2.238 mile circuit in 1:13.948 while making insane 10,000 rpm noises.(...)
Read the rest of COVERAGE> ALMS Last Lap At Laguna Seca

© Tom Stahler for MotorMavens | Car Culture and Photography, 2013. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Alex Zanardi, All American Racers, ALMS, American LeMans Series, Andy Lally, Antonio Garcia, BMW, Bryan Sellers, Champ Car, Continental Tire, corvette, Dan Gurney, Delta WIng, Eau Rouge, Elliot Skeer, endurance racing, F1, Falken Tire, Ferrari, Formula One, Gonzalo Rodriguez, Green White Checker, Green X Challenge, GT, GT3, Guy Smith, Henrique Cisneros, IndyCar, jackie stewart, Jan Magnussen, Katherine Legge, Klaus Graf, Laguna Seca, LOLA, Lucas Luhr, Luis Diaz, Marino franchitti, Mazda Raceway, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Mike Guasch, Mike Kim, Momo, Monterey, Muscle Milk, NASCAR, Neel Jani, Nick Heidfeld, Nick Tandy, Nordschleife, Off camber, Olivier Barretta, Patrick Dempsey, Paul Walter, Pete Lovely, Porsche, Prancing Horse, Prototype 1, Prototype 2, Rebellion, Risi Competizione, Rob Dyson, Rob Walker, Rumble Strips, Salinas, Scott Tucker, Sean Rayhall, Spa Francorchamps, Spec racing, SRT, The Corkscrew, United SportsCar Racing, United SportsCar Racing Series, Viper, Wolf Henzler

Can you guess what kind of car this is? If Mad Max drove a vintage Honda in a time attack series, is this what you would imagine his car to look like?

We were carspotting at the most recent Speed Ventures event at Streets of Willow, and saw this old school Honda with monstrous box flares, front lip spoiler and a huge front bumper. Let’s not forget the big wing up top, and the center mounted driver seat and steering wheel!(...)
Read the rest of CAPTION THIS> Mad Max Honda At Speed Ventures

© Motor Mavens for MotorMavens | Car Culture and Photography, 2013. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Christian Alcantara, Honda, Speed Ventures, Streets of Willow, Willow Springs

Road Atlanta and Global Time Attack are a match made in heaven. If you combine a 2.54 mile road course that rolls through the green hills of Georgia with an open rule set where maximum speed and minimum lap times are all that matters, you’re bound to have an incredible event.

Thanks to GTA series sponsors like Continental Tire, Whiteline Suspension, Garrett Turbo, Spec Clutch and Meister Watches, the battle for Road Atlanta certainly did not disappoint, with new competitors in the mix, newly set fastest lap records, and even big crashes!(...)
Read the rest of DRIVER SEAT> Global Time Attack at Road Atlanta

© dan@professionalawesome.com for MotorMavens | Car Culture and Photography, 2013. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Braselton, Continental Tire, Dan O'Donnell, Doug Wind, Evo, Evo 7, Evo 9, Evo VII, Evolution VII, Front Wheel Drive, Garrett Turbo, Georgia, Global Time Attack, Grant Davis, Hankook, Jason Dienhart, Jordan Gilsinger, Kyle Lewis, Lancer, Limited All Wheel Drive, Limited Front Wheel Drive, Mike Lewin, Mitsubishi, Professional Awesome, Professional Awesome Racing, Road Atlanta, Spec Clutch, Street Rear Wheel Drive, Time Attack, Tony Szirka, Ventus RS-3, Ventus TD, Whiteline, Whiteline Suspension

This past weekend at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, the Formula Drift Championship celebrated its Ten Year Anniversary. It’s hard to believe that the sport of professional drifting has already been in existence in the United States for ten whole years! Crazy – it certainly doesn’t feel like it’s been ten years.

Over the past decade, there have been a ton of new faces in the traveling Formula D circus – new drivers, new photographers, new teams and sponsors, new models, and new fans. When the very first Formula Drift event was held at Road Atlanta back in 2004, drifting was very much new to the United States. Most people didn’t even know what it was. Most of the drivers and teams were very grassroots in appearance; we certainly didn’t see the big corporate event activations and sponsor logos that you find at Formula Drift events nowadays.

Many of the original drivers, models, and teams from the inaugural Formula Drift event in 2004 have moved on to pursue other things. However, there are still a few OG Formula Drift heads (like me) still around. Man, we’re getting old!(...)
Read the rest of PERSPECTIVE> Ten Years Of Formula Drift Atlanta

© Antonio Alvendia for MotorMavens | Car Culture and Photography, 2013. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 10D, 1JZGTE, 20V 4AGE, 350Z, 4AG 20v, 4AGE, Acura, AE86, Blacktop 20V, Blake Fuller, Bogen, Braille Auto, Braille Battery, Braselton, Canon, Carbon, Chris Forsberg, Competition Coupe, Corolla, Dai Yoshihara, Daijiro Yoshihara, Dalton Hanley, DC2, Discount Tire, Drift Alliance, Ford, Formula D, Formula Drift, Formula Drift Championship, FR-S, Georgia, GoPUCK, Grassroots Motorsports Magazine, GReddy, Gushi Auto, Integra, Jerry Tsai, JZX90, Kai Tsukiyama, Kenshiro Gushi, Manfrotto, Mark II, Modified Magazine, Monster Energy, Mopar, Mustang, Mustang RTR, PS13, Road Atlanta, Rotora Brakes, S13, Samuel Hubinette, Scion, Seibon, Seibon carbon, Shinsengumi Ramen, Sparco, Taka Aono, Toyota, Tsukasa Gushi, Vaughn Gittin Jr, Viper, Weir Performance, Z33

Daigo Saito for the win! Driving the Achilles Radial Lexus SC430 powered by a 2JZGTE engine and AEM Electronics Infinity ECU, defending 2012 Formula Drift champion Daigo Saito took first place honors at Formula D Round 2 this weekend at Road Atlanta.

The changes in weather made it extremely difficult for the drivers at Road Atlanta. The rain slicked track proved to be a challenge as the event entered into the Top 16 portion of the competition.(...)
Read the rest of NEWSWORTHY> Daigo Saito Wins Formula D Atlanta

© Motor Mavens for MotorMavens | Car Culture and Photography, 2013. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 2JZGTE, Achilles Radial, AEM, AEM Electronics, BC Racing, Bridges Racing, Daigo Saito, Formula D, Formula Drift, Garrett Turbo, Infinity, Infinity ECU, Lexus, Lexus SC430, Road Atlanta, SC430, Sparco, Turbo by Garrett

This weekend’s inaugural Speed&Stance meet was crazy!!! I can’t believe so many people turned up to the event, because we organized and promoted the entire thing in only five days. FIVE DAYS! Thanks to our friends at Speed Ventures, we were able to throw this gigantic car event in the parking lot of Auto Club Speedway in Fontana!

We advertised the meet to run between 12 noon and 5pm, but every single one of the infield parking lots at the speedway were FULL by 2:45pm! There was a crazy line of cars backed up from the infield parking, through the tunnel, wrapping all the way around to the Cherry Avenue entrance! I was told that once the parking lots allocated to the event hit capacity, the people at the gates had to turn away well over 100 cars! Insane.

Since traffic and road congestion became an issue, the good folks from Auto Club Speedway quickly opened up a couple more parking lots so that cars could pre-stage before rolling in to the actual show area, which saw both autocross and high speed road racing with Speed Ventures on the ROVAL course, and a beginner level car control clinic for Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ owners called the 86 Dynamic Driving Academy.(...)
Read the rest of COVERAGE> Speed&Stance Swarms SpeedVentures

© Antonio Alvendia for MotorMavens | Car Culture and Photography, 2013. | Permalink | 14 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 86 Dynamic Driving Academy, 86FEST, 911, Antonio Alvendia, Auto Club Speedway, autocross, Axis Wheels, Bernie Chacon, BMW, BRZ, California Car Cover, Canibeat, Cipher Garage, Codemasters, Countach, CRX, Dayuum, Dub Nation, Eco Shine, Eco Shine Auto, Fatlace, fifteen52, Golden Shine, Golf, GT3RS, Honda, import model, Impreza, Infinit Wheels, IS300, James Chen, lamborghini, Lance Feliciano, Lexus, Low n' Slow, Mike Kim, Mitch Sison, MotorMavens, OEM Audio Plus, Porsche, Project Mk6, Purist Group, road racing, ROVAL, Scion FR-S, Sean Lee, SiR, Speed&Stance, stance, Stance Nation, State of Stance, Subaru, Tarmac, TDI, Tim Sison, Vape Supreme, Volkswagen, VW, WRX, Z4

This Sunday, May 5th! Cinco de Mayo! RAIN OR SHINE. We’ll be out at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana for the first Speed and Stance meet with our friends from Speed Ventures, Canibeat, Stance Nation, Dayuum, AutoCon, It’s JDM Yo, JDMZipties, Fatlace/Illest/HellaFlush, Super Street, Import Tuner, Hoonigan, OMGdrift, Sub5Zero, Fifteen52, Flossy, OEM Audio Plus, Dub Nation, California Car Cover, M7 Japan, Cusco, Eco Shine, and a ton of other friends… Come join us!(...)
Read the rest of EVENT> Speed&Stance Meet at Auto Club Speedway

© Motor Mavens for MotorMavens | Car Culture and Photography, 2013. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Autocon, California Car Cover, Canibeat, Cusco, Dayuum, Dub Nation, Eco Shine, Fatlace, fifteen52, Flossy, Hellaflush, Hoonigan, illest, Import Tuner, It's JDM Yo, JDMZipties, M7 Japan, OEM Audio Plus, OMGDRIFT, Speed and Stance, Speed Ventures, Stance Nation, Sub5Zero, Super Street

Endurance Racing has always been about how hard and how long you can go. For almost a century, legendary races like Le Mans, Sebring, and Daytona have made history as a proving ground for men and their machines. The Streets of Long Beach circuit brought a similar challenge to the cars and stars of the American LeMans Series (ALMS) on Saturday Afternoon.

In just two hours, 157 miles would be traveled and 36.329 seconds would separate an endurance racing champion from a former Formula One star – and with the win, produce the winning-est driver in American LeMans series history – a man who only turned a wheel for 25 minutes.(...)
Read the rest of COVERAGE> ALMS Street Fight In Long Beach

© Tom Stahler for MotorMavens | Car Culture and Photography, 2013. | Permalink | 10 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: ALMS, American Le Mans, American LeMans Series, Antonio Alvendia, ARX-03b, ARX-03c, Bill Auberlen, BMW, Bruno Junquiera, Bryan Sellers, Colin Braun, CORE Autosport, corvette, Corvette Racing, Derrick Walker, Duncan Ende, endurance racing, Extreme Speed Motorsports, FLM09, Flying Lizard, Grand Prix of Long Beach, GT3, GT3 Cup series, GTE, Guy Cosmo, Henrique Cisneros, Honda, HPD, Jan Magnussen, Johnson Controls, Klaus Graf, LBGP, LMP, LMP1, LMP2, Lola B12/60, Long Beach Grand Prix, Lucas Luhr, Michelin GREEN Challenge, Mike Kim, Muscle Milk, Neel Jani, NGT Motorsports, Nick Heidfeld, Oliver Petalver, ORECA, Pickett Racing, Porsche, Porsche GT3 RSR, prototype, Rebellion, Recaro, Scott Sharp, Sean Edwards, Streets of Long Beach, Tequila Patron, Tom Stahler, ToyotaGPLB, United SportsCar Racing, Willie T. Ribbs, Wolf Henzler, Z4, Z4 GTE